The Eagles wouldn’t give up trying to hit from the outside, but only three of 17 tries found their mark.

“We just weren’t attacking the basket,” Mitchell said, “and so we weren’t getting to the line.”

Evan Hibbard was the leading Fayette scorer with nine points.

SECTIONALS—The Eagles enter the sectional tournament tonight at Bryan High School with the aim of posting their second victory against Edon. After the regular season, both teams won once.

The first time around Fayette won in overtime. More recently, the Bombers came through with a two-point margin of victory.

Fayette plays the second game tonight, scheduled at 8 p.m., following the sectional opener between Stryker and Edgerton at 6:15.

The winners meet at 8 p.m. Friday before action moves on to Napoleon.

Morenci boys: Morenci’s long-distance attack against Whiteford wasn’t enough here Thursday, not with the Bobcats living off the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs hit an unusually high 13 three-point shots—a bonus of 13 points—but Whiteford put 23 of 28 through from the line to win 77-66.

Morenci came back to pull within five points midway through the fourth quarter, but fouls got in the way and Whiteford maintained its lead.

Seven Morenci players scored from outside the arc, the Bulldogs went to the line only six times.

Jacob Bovee led scoring for Morenci with 16 points, including four three-pointers.

HUDSON—When Hudson visited Saturday for a non-league contest, it was Morenci that faced a barrage of outside shooting, with the Tigers connecting on 10 shots. They also outpaced Morenci at the line and went home with a 67-52 win.

It proved to be a good trip for Hudson as they picked up only their fourth win of the season.

Bovee was the leader for the Bulldogs with 20 points. Morenci hit 75 percent from the line, but only had eight chances.

• The regular season comes to a close Thursday at Clinton when the Bulldogs try to pick up a final TCC victory against the league’s newest entry.

The Bulldogs drew a bye in the opening round of district tournament play next week at Blissfield.

Morenci plays the winner of the Whiteford-Blissfield game at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27.

At 7:30 that night, Sand Creek faces the winner of the Madison-Summerfield contest.

Morenci girls: Good looks, but not too many baskets.

That’s how Morenci’s first half went when Lenawee Christian School’s girls team visited Feb. 12.

But after the half-time break, the Bulldogs got both the looks and the baskets and went on to stop the Cougars 49-33.

“We just needed to get the ball in the hole,” said Morenci coach Jim Yatzek, and that’s what he got.

Starting off the second half trailing 20-16, Morenci broke the game open with a 15-3 quarter. Most everyone got in on the scoring act.

Nicolette Swimmer started it off, then Chanler McCaskey tied the game. Next it was Jackie Paris’s turn with a three-pointer, followed by a bucket from Morgan McVay and then another from Jessica Jones.

Brooke Barrett was next in line as the Bulldogs went on top by nine points at the end of the quarter and 16 at the end of the game.

“They’re a decent shooting team,” Yatzek said about the visitors, “but we’re playing a darn good defense now. I thought they had a pretty difficult time with our defense all night long.”

Paris hit three three-pointers and finished with 10 points, along with Swimmer and McCaskey. Paris also collected seven rebounds. Jones finished with three blocks and seven boards. Swimmer grabbed six steals.

Morenci wrestling: Three Morenci wrestlers will advance to regional competition Saturday after top-four finishes in the district tournament. Two of those Bulldogs will compete in the same weight class.

Dustin Roller came through with a fourth place finish in the 130-pound class. Jeffrey Nofziger and Kyle McClain both made it through at 145 pounds.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better with having them both at 145,” coach Scott Clark said. “It stayed close and they wrestled hard.”

Nofziger took third place by topping his teammate in the consolation finals.

It made for a relaxing bout for Clark and his assistant, Jesse Bach, who didn’t have to worry about which one came out on top.

With three wrestlers qualifying at 145 pounds, Clark moved McClain up to the 152-pound class for most of the season.

Clark was pleased with McClain’s finish since the two-time regional qualifier was seeded down at number nine despite having beaten some of the those ranked ahead of him.

Clark said Nofziger never looked better this season. He’s been fighting injuries and will go into the regionals with a 21-7 record. McClain and Roller are the only two wrestlers to advance out of the districts with losing records.

Roller opened with a 22-9 decision against Grass Lake before losing to a returning state champion from Hudson in a 3:12 pin.

He came back with a 19-4 decision against Michigan Center and lost in the finals to a regional qualifier from Sand Creek.

Nofziger pinned a Reading opponent at 4:22 and out-pointed a Jonesville wrestler 21-5. He lost to the eventual champion from Addison, 3-0, and came back in the closing seconds to defeat Grass Lake 6-5.

He defeated his teammate 4-3.

McClain opened with a 3:13 pin against Union City and lost to the Addison champ, 15-3.

He came back to defeat Jonesville 7-2 and upset a Hudson wrestler 3-2.